(BLOOMFIELD) - A 76-year-old man who admitted in court that he had molested young victims, but didn't know how many, was sentenced to the maximum time in prison - 10 years.

William Mondary of Jasonville appeared in Greene Circuit Court and was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to four felony counts of child exploitation.

The Greene County Daily World reports that Judge Erik Allen felt strongly that the maximum sentence was necessary due to the predatory nature and that Mondary was very likely to offend again, and that evidence against Mondary was overwhelming.

Mondary was arrested in January after Jasonville officers executed a search warrant at his apartment on South Park Avenue. During the search investigators found hundreds of media files which depicted children as young as toddlers in sexual acts or in sexually-suggestive poses.

The search warrant was issued following a lengthy investigation led by Sgt. Chris Cecil of the Indiana State Police and an investigator from the Kentucky ICACTF (Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force) who initiated the undercover investigation.

In addition to the ISP and ICACTF, the FBI was also involved in the investigation.

Mondary was booked into the Greene County Jail by ISP Det. Cecil then charged with four counts of child exploitation, all class C felonies, and five counts of possession of child pornography, all class D felonies.

Mondary's bond was set at $50,000 with ten percent allowed, but he did not post bond and has remained in jail since his arrest.

In March, Mondary agreed to plead guilty to the four counts of child exploitation and the State agreed to dismiss the five counts of possession of child pornography.

After the sentencing hearing, Greene County Deputy Prosecutor Keven McIntosh said under Indiana's sentencing guidelines, Mondary would not have faced any more prison time if he had been found guilty on all counts -- ten years was the maximum he would receive under Indiana law.

Under the terms of a negotiated plea agreement, sentencing was left up to the court, but during the hearing McIntosh recommended the maximum.

There were several aggravating factors taken into consideration by the court.

One was Mondary's prior criminal history with a conviction for assault and battery with the intent to gratify sexual desires -- an offense committed against a six-year-old victim.

Another was the extremely young ages of the children depicted in photographs in evidence -- clearly younger than 12 years of age.

The judge noted another aggravating factor was that the nature and circumstances of the offenses occurred over a period of time and that Mondary was clearly grooming a person that he thought was a young child.

Yet another aggravating circumstance noted by the judge was the statements Mondary made to investigators including that he believed age was only a number and that he saw nothing wrong with having sexual relationships with a child who was eight years of age if the child was in love with him.

In addition, during the hearing, Mondary admitted to the court that he had molested other young victims but didn't know how many.

In his sentence pronouncement, Judge Allen said he gave very substantial aggravating weight to the defendant's poor character, and that he strongly believed Mondary is a predator of young children, and that he posed a very serious threat to the safety of young children in the community if he were to be free in the community. He also said he believed there is a strong likelihood of the defendant's re-offending.

Monday was given credit for 104 days already served at the time of his sentencing.

He will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.